


Dead on Arrival [Reimagined]

by Baby_Buu



Category: Dragon Ball
Genre: Angst, Cannon Divergence, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Gochi - Freeform, I’ve been writing for almost two years now and rereading through the original was total cringe, Liar, Light Smut, M/M, Pre-Poly, Reimagined, Reworked, Some Bulma/Vegeta but not the focus, Soulmate AU, Vegebul, a little smut, kakavege, lying, updated
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-05
Updated: 2020-09-05
Packaged: 2021-03-06 17:35:33
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,354
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26002762
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Baby_Buu/pseuds/Baby_Buu
Summary: Strange things are happening for Vegeta. Goku’s acting so strange and the soulmate he thought he lost forever has suddenly made an appearance.This is a reworking of my very first story, reimagined as a Soulmate AU
Relationships: Son Goku/Vegeta (Dragon Ball)
Comments: 6
Kudos: 55
Collections: Re-Imagined





	Dead on Arrival [Reimagined]

**Author's Note:**

> This was inspired by Falling in Reverse’s Reimagined
> 
> Shout out to my home girl Fleur for really helping me with this one!

Vegeta was very young when he learned about soulmates. Every Saiyan had one, and the most peculiar thing happened when your soulmate lied. The words they spoke appeared on your skin like a tattoo. Depending on what type of lie, and the severity of it changed the size and the shape. A white lie appeared very small, and faded quickly. A large lie meant to hurt others appeared bold and took a while to disappear.

Saiyans weren’t exactly an honest species so Vegeta had seen it happen on others with his own eyes, but never on his own skin. As he sat and contemplated why the several men off planet with him suddenly had their words simultaneously bleed off their skin, Nappa made the announcement that would forever change his life.

Planet Vegeta was gone. He would never become king, and he would never find his soulmate.

_ Vegeta, I need to tell you something. _ Vegeta kept hearing those words over and over in his head. The look on Goku's face was not something he could forget. He had never seen the man so serious outside of battle before. It amazed Vegeta how such a formidable fighter could be such a naive idiot, but he had grown used to it over the years.

They weren't even having a serious moment when he grabbed him by both shoulders, forcing him to look into his dark eyes. Vegeta's breath hitched, torn between telling him to get away and wanting to find out just what was so damn important that he needed to be so close when he told him. The fool always showed blatant disregard for Vegeta’s personal space, but this seemed  _ different _ . 

"Goku!" the shrill cry of the man's wife came, completely ruining the moment, causing Goku to jump back like he had been shoved. He removed his hands from Vegeta only to touch his forehead with two fingers, vanishing instantly from the spot. 

"You are supposed to be in the field working! You promised me Goku! Why are here instead?" More shrill screeches interrupted Vegeta's thoughts, getting louder until she was close enough he could see her. 

"He's gone." He called. 

She huffed and walked back the other way. Vegeta stood there not moving for several minutes.

Days passed. He had not seen or heard from Goku since. Vegeta lay awake in bed every night trying to remember every second, every single minuscule detail from that day that led up to that to that look and that tone. He could hear Goku say his name over and over in his head,  _ Vegeta...Vegeta, I need to tell you... _

Vegeta basically lived in his armor, so he didn’t know exactly when it happened, only that it was after the incident that he was awakened but his own wife’s yelling that he noticed for the first time in his life that words were appearing on his skin. They were small and danced around his arms before fading. So his soulmate was telling white lies? Wait, what?

He bolted up and finally started to process what Bulma was saying. 

“Vegeta, are you even listening to me?”

His eyes narrowed. 

“Have you gotten into witchcraft or something? What’s happening?”

“It’s a Saiyan thing.” He tried to brush off.

“What’s a Saiyan thing? Magical tattoos?”

Vegeta huffed. 

“Each Saiyan is born with a soulmate. When their soulmate lies, it appears on their skin. The smaller the lie the faster it goes away.”

“You know what this means right?”

“I have a soulmate.” He responded dryly.

Bulma looked thoughtful.

“Well this doesn’t have to change anything. We are still married, and we have the kids. I wonder who it is though. And why now?” She trailed off with a finger to her mouth. A common occurrence when she got lost in deep thought.

Vegeta had known they weren’t soulmates when they got together. He had thought he lost his when his planet was destroyed, but it appears something had changed. But what?

Vegeta had been pushing himself past his limits, desperate to distract himself through training. It didn’t work. The worst part was he had began to train in a tank top so he could see the writing, which was getting more and more frequent.

_ It’s nothing. _

_ I’m fine. _

Those were very common, he saw them several times a day each. 

One peculiar one went by so fast Vegeta wasn’t sure he saw it correctly.

_ Yep, that’s what I meant. Girls. _

What the devil was his soulmate up to?

Vegeta preened to himself only when he thought no one would see him. He had a soulmate!

Vegeta continued to train but it wasn’t enough. He wanted to train off planet with Whis but Whis warned him last time he wouldn’t train him and Goku separately anymore. It was either together or not at all. 

Well, together it is.

Goku had been successfully avoiding Vegeta for weeks now. He thought it was a coincidence at first, in the past they never really spent that much time together. But for Goku to flat out decline going to train on Beerus' planet, and through someone else? Something was up. 

While he was flying home he noticed a lot more words rapidly appearing and wrapping around his arms.

_ I just don’t want to. _

_ I really want to focus on the fields right now. _

_ Whis is not being fair asking us to train together. _

Vegeta screeched to a halt mid air.

No way! There was absolutely no way!

Vegeta flew home as fast as he could and immediately put on his armor and gloves. He shoved that memory so far back it was like it never happened.

And if words sometimes danced around his collar, well he pretended not to notice that as well. 

Vegeta couldn’t sleep. He couldn’t pretend to forget, not to himself. Him and the other Saiyan were deeply connected, he couldn’t deny that. But soulmates? It seemed a bit much.

He had recently found himself in a comfortable place with Goku. They spent a lot of time together, training some, and they even had conversations without Vegeta insulting him. Unbelievably even spending three years in the Hyperbolic Time Chamber alone together. In the past it would have been torture for the both of them, but Vegeta found that somewhere along the way he had began to tolerate the other man more and more.

Unable to control the urge, he flew off toward the other man again. He would try to catch him away from home. He could feel his ki, it felt like he was out working the fields.  _ Perfect _ .

Vegeta landed a short distance from where Goku was working. He was riding around in his tractor. Vegeta kept his ki low so he could approach him in a way where he couldn’t run from him. Goku finally stopped and got out. He wiped his face with his scarf. Vegeta smirked to himself and flew over quickly.

“Oh hey Vegeta! What are you doing here?” He asked in a friendly tone. Not one that suggested he was avoiding Vegeta on purpose at all.

"Kakarot, you have been slacking on our routine so I thought I’d ask you for an early morning spar." 

Vegeta crouched into his normal fighting stance and watched in wonder as Goku’s face lit up like a Christmas tree, and then just as suddenly, caved in with a very uncharacteristic frown replacing his childlike smile. His black eyes so full of life a second ago now dimmed and were empty. Goku had taken a few steps forward in his excitement, raising his arms to a fighting stance. Now he stopped and let his arms droop to his sides. Vegeta was flabbergasted. He raised his eyebrows in a question, but Goku was purposefully staring down at the ground. 

"Kakarot, what in the world is going on with you? You don't want to train with me all the sudden, you won't talk to me directly, and now you are deliberately refusing a challenge from me?" 

Goku shifted his feet around for a few seconds before mumbling something Vegeta couldn't make out. 

"What was that Kakarot? Speak up!" He demanded.

Barely audible Goku breathed out, "I don't think we should train together anymore."

Goku's expression somehow crumbled even more, looking sadder than Vegeta thought possible. For a moment Vegeta could not process what he heard. Surely his arch rival, turned comrade, turned something even Vegeta could admit was close to friend did not just... How could he... Why would he... Vegeta was spiraling but he didn't care. 

"What?" he asked, unable to come up with a different response.

Goku folded into himself.

"I don't think we should train together anymore. Or spar. And we probably shouldn't see each other too much anymore." Goku sounded like he was going to start crying. 

Vegeta just stood there for a minute. Emotions running wild on his face. Hurt, anger, regret, confusion, eventually settling on fury. He was standing in front of Goku in an instant, hands tangled in the neck of his farming shirt.

Snarling, he growled out, "And what have I finally done to turn off the perpetually happy-go-lucky, all-loving Kakarot? The naive idiot who would even give the detestable bastard Frieza the shirt off his back? What horrible thing finally crossed the line? Please let me know, because I am honestly amazed right now. I always expected it to happen, but I guess after all these years I figured there wasn't anything I could do. Guess I was wrong after all." He spat out the last words with all the rage and frustration he could muster. 

Goku's eyes widened in obvious confusion. The more Vegeta yelled, the more confused he looked. He was shaking his head almost violently at the end of his outburst. 

"Vegeta you didn't do anything wrong! You could never offend me like that! I know how much you've changed and how hard you try. How could you think that?" Vegeta released his grip, and stepped back.

He sputtered for a moment before continuing.

"What else am I supposed to think? You are acting so strangely Kakarot, what has gotten into you?" 

For a second it looked like Vegeta had gotten through to him, and that he was going to answer. But then he could tell the taller man was shutting down again. 

"It has nothing to do with any of that Vegeta. It has nothing to do with you. Just please, leave me alone." 

And before he could even respond, Goku placed two fingers to his temple, and disappeared. 

Vegeta looked down at his arms. He carefully pulled off his glove to see words clear as day. They were large, bold, and didn’t disappear quickly like the others.

_ It has nothing to do with you _ . 

Vegeta roared in frustration, powering up to Super Saiyan Blue and caused a large crater to appear, completely ruining the soil Goku had just worked on.

Vegeta was...lonely. Although he would never admit it. Between living together on Beerus’ planet and three years together in the Hyperbolic Time Chamber he had actually gotten used to spending time with Goku. He went from being annoyed by his very existence to enjoying his company. Goku pushed him to be a better fighter, but he also made him laugh and consider things from a different perspective.

But now, he didn’t even want to see him anymore. Vegeta knew he was the reason, Kakarot had lied, he saw the proof on his own skin! But why had he lied? It occurred to Vegeta then that he had never seen his lies on Goku or had even heard about it happening. That was weird...

Vegeta thought about Goku a lot lately. He remembered when they fused for the first time. He was horrified when he realized all his memories were open for Goku to see. He knew Goku would want nothing more to do with him after he knew all the terrible things he had done. But instead all he got was an overwhelming feeling of compassion and understanding. He saw what he went through, what he had done before they met and somehow the only thing Goku felt was pride for the man he was now. Vegeta was surprised by his reaction, but very pleased. He held onto the feeling whenever he was reminded of the things he had done, and used it to push forward.

But if Goku didn’t mind any of that, why doesn’t he want to see him anymore? It was a mystery, and Vegeta didn’t know how to let it go. They were soulmates after all. Kami, Vegeta didn’t know what to do with that.

Vegeta was training in the gravity room when the system shut down and Bulma entered the room.

“You’ve got some nerve!” Vegeta growled as his body suddenly felt lighter than air after the 500 times gravity returned to normal.

“I’m sorry to interrupt your  _ oh so important training _ , but I just got a call from Mr. Satan, he said he’s off doing an appearance or something. Anyway, apparently he left Buu by himself because he was sleeping and should have been out for months. Well now I guess Buu is sleepwalking through town and wreaking all sorts of havoc. He asked if you could go try to wake him up or at least curb the damage he is causing. I’m worried if Buu is too destructive, people might start to remember what happened before.” 

Vegeta processed what she was saying, but he didn’t answer. He remembered when they fought Buu before. What a nightmare it was, but he had worked together with Goku. 

He had an idea.

“Do me a favor. Call Kakarot and tell him everything you just told me, but don’t let him know I’m already on my way.” 

With that he ran out of the room, on his way to Satan city.

Even unconscious, Buu wanted sweets. Vegeta already knew this so was not surprised he found Buu obviously asleep yet still somehow eating everything he could reach inside a candy store. It was easy to find, there were police cars with sirens on and teenage looking employees crying outside the shop.

Okay, he found him, but now what to do? He wanted to give Kakarot a chance to show up but Bulma was right. They didn’t know how the wish worked on replacing people’s memory. What if they remembered what really happened when Buu was released? Vegeta could relate with how people would hold Buu’s original actions against him even though he had changed.

Luckily, he didn’t have to wait very long. He felt Goku’s ki nearing a split second before he arrived. He seemed to take in the situation the exact same way Vegeta had a moment before. He must have been in a huge hurry and didn’t notice Vegeta’s ki at all because he seemed very surprised to see him there. He didn’t have time to worry about him leaving because the policemen chose that moment to move in. Things were going to get out of control, fast.

“Kakarot, we have to get him home.” 

Goku nodded. They flew in quickly before the police could say anything. They each grabbed an arm and Goku transported them outside Gohan’s yard.

“Dad what’s going on?” He heard Gohan yell, startled by a rampaging Buu, and the two older Saiyans suddenly appearing.

“Why didn’t Mr. Satan ask you to take care of Buu?” Goku asked him. Gohan looked confused.

“I just got home from a conference, I left my phone at home on accident. What happened?”

Goku went to explain, but Buu suddenly collapsed on the ground, snoring audibly while Vegeta and him both were still holding onto Buu’s arms and fell down. They collided together and in their scrambling to try to get up managed to get tangled together even more. Goku somehow ended up half straddled by Vegeta. He looked into the younger man’s face and saw a curious expression. It looked like a mix between relief and embarrassment.

“Kakarot, you dunce, what are doing?” He noticed his voice severely lacked the normal amount of menace.

“Sorry Geta” Goku sheeply apologized. 

Vegeta let out a loud laugh, throwing his head back. He felt like a weight had been lifted off his chest he didn’t even realize was there. With as much grace and dignity as he could muster, he got up off Goku and held out his hand to help him up. He noticed that his hand was held in a tight grip for a few seconds longer than necessary. Goku put his hand behind his neck and giggled along with Vegeta.

Gohan watched, puzzled. “Uh dad?”

“Oh, Gohan. Buu sleptwalked into town and was causing trouble. Geta and I brought him back here. Can you keep an eye on him, make sure he stays here?”

“Yeah, sure, but what are you going to do...”

Gohan’s voice was cut off as Vegeta was blinked to a different place on the planet. He looked around. They were on a cliff side, who knows where. Vegeta observed his surroundings, taking it all in. It wasn’t until he had looked all around that he noticed Goku was still holding his wrist.

“What are we doing here Kakarot?”

“This is my favorite place to come and think. I thought you might like to see it.”

“It is a decent view.” 

Vegeta clicked his tongue. He didn’t want to upset him. If he could just get him talking. Realizing they were still touching, Goku let go and Vegeta’s hand fell down to his side.

“Kakarot, why did you bring me here?” Vegeta asked as politely as he could stand. 

Vegeta wanted nothing more than for the other man to start talking! Both of them stared out over the cliff side, avoiding looking at each other.

“Vegeta, I want to tell you something. But I want it to stay here in this moment. We can forget about it after and go back to the way things were. I miss you and I don’t want to avoid you anymore.” 

Vegeta’s blood ran cold. He knew! Goku knew they were soulmates.

“Okay Kakarot, I’ll play along. Only because I want to know what the hell is going on with you.” 

Vegeta tried to play coy.

“Vegeta, you’re my best friend. I trust you with my life and depend on you to always be there to back me up against any opponent. I want you to swear to me on your daughter's life that we will still be friends after this.”

Finally they looked over at each other. Vegeta raised his eyebrow. Even more nervous then before, he simply nodded.

Goku grabbed his hands and held them together.

“I.. we.. well you see...” Goku began babbling.

“Just spit it out Kakarot!” Vegeta demanded. 

He knew what was about to happen and his head was reeling. They were so close, he had both his hands grasped. He could see the fear in Goku’s eyes and was worried he would run away again.

“Vegeta I’m in love with you.” Goku managed to whisper. 

Vegeta’s mind went blank. He refused to even process what he just heard.

“Come again?” He asked. 

Goku held their hands tighter and moved closer, giving him a look he’d never seen before.

“Vegeta,” Goku all but sighed his name, “I’m in love with you. I know you would never love me back so I’ve been avoiding you. But now that I’ve told you I can start to move on. I hope we can still be friends and train together like you said.” 

Goku looked so defeated. He didn’t even give Vegeta a chance to reject him. He had decided everything himself and didn’t think Vegeta deserved his own say. Vegeta was floored. They were soulmates, yes? But this was not something he was expecting from the other man. He never thought in a million years... But now it was already taken away before he could even...

“Kakarot... I....” 

What could he say?

“It’s okay Vegeta, I know you won’t ever feel the same.” 

Realizing Goku had dropped his hands and turned away, Vegeta became angry. You don’t just say or do any of the things this dunce just did.

“Take me home right now this instance!” Frustrated, Vegeta growled. “I don’t want to be around your preposterous, idiotic, sentimental drivel any longer.”

Without a word Goku grabbed his wrist again and teleported them away. 

Vegeta was pacing around his room one day, desperately trying to ignore the words swarming all around his arms and torso. Goku was lying so much and often now that Vegeta felt like his skin was never bare anymore. He was so distracted he didn’t realize Bulma had entered the room. It was only when he felt her hand lightly touch him that he was pulled from his frantic thoughts. Bulma kissed him and Vegeta realized there was one sure way to distract him from all of this. He smirked before picking Bulma up and leading her to the bed all while never breaking contact with her. 

They lay in bed, both trying to catch their breath. 

“Woman, what has come over you?” He asked, breathing heavy still.

“You seemed to enjoy it.” She chuckled, rolling over so she could run her hands up his large bicep. 

Vegeta couldn’t help but let his eyes close at the soothing touch. But he wasn’t distracted by it. He had a nagging feeling about her actions. 

“Where were you today?” 

“Oh just out to lunch with a friend.”

Something about her tone put him off.

“Bulma, you’ve been acting strange lately. If I didn’t know any better I’d think you were having an affair.” He sounded like he was making a joke, but his words seemed to catch up to him and he frowned slightly.

Instead of answering him, Bulma moved and climbed on top of him so she was straddling him fully. She bent down and began to slowly and lightly flick her tongue across his nipple. He moaned and arched his back. 

“And what if I was?” She asked in a low tone, sliding her tongue over to his other nipple and letting her hands roam across his abs. 

He let out a moan and growl at the same time.

“I’d kill him.” He stated matter of factly before closing his eyes and sighing from her quick and needy touches. 

“What if it was another woman though? Would you still be mad then?” Bulma asked, climbing off him and her hand snaking down passed Vegeta’s waist. 

Vegeta had a brief flash of his wife with a faceless woman. Them kissing, and touching. His face went blank with desire and then blushed heavily, and if she noticed he didn’t seem to be able to answer she didn’t comment on it. Instead she teased him some more, bringing him quickly to the edge. 

Vegeta was immensely enjoying himself, until Bulma opened her mouth and shattered Vegeta’s whole world. 

“You know Vegeta, I wouldn’t mind if there was a man you wanted to be intimate with.” 

He choked back a startled cry. Bulma, pleased with his initial reaction, became more erratic with her movements. 

“For instance, I think Goku may be interested in you sexually.” 

Vegeta’s release came so suddenly with the loudest moan he had ever heard himself make, completely embarrassing himself. He lay there breathless.

After a few minutes he finally spoke. 

“What were you going on about now? “ He asked her, trying to sound nonchalant but failing, especially with how hard he was blushing. 

“I had a talk with Goku, and he told me about his crush on you. I gotta admit it made me a little hot. I wanted to see how you felt about it.” 

Bulma wagged her eyebrows suggestively.

“When did you discuss this with Kakarot?”

“You asked me where I was earlier, I was out to lunch with Goku. I wanted to get down to the bottom of what was happening with you two, but I didn’t know it would be so juicy.”

Vegeta huffed.

“So tell me, are you interested in something like that?”

“And you wouldn’t consider that cheating?” He asked flatly but the blush continued across his face over to his ears. 

“No, I love you and I trust you. If we were open and honest about everything, I would be willing to share. I know there’s something between you two, and I want you to be happy.”

“What do you mean something between us? There is not! He is the one with feelings for me!”

Bulma raised an eyebrow at him and he knew he needed to work on his poker face.

“Vegeta, I know you better than anyone, except maybe Goku. I know how obsessed with him you’ve been since you met, and I saw that suggesting you two together made you excited. It’s okay, you can be honest with me.”

They stared at each other, Bulma’s eyes so open and honest. Vegeta’s eyes were hard but he felt like Bulma always saw through him.

Bulma’s eyes turned smug when Vegeta gave up, they both knew she had him.

“You know that I recently discovered I do have a soulmate still.”

She nodded.

“And Kakarot has been acting very strangely recently.”

Bulma’s eyes started to sparkle as her brilliant mind no doubt put the puzzle pieces he was giving her together.

“Vegeta, are you saying what I think you’re saying?” She squealed. 

He nodded.

“Yes, but the idiot doesn’t know. And I think it might be best that way.”

“Oh sweety.” She kissed him on the cheek.

“But wait, I’ve never seen your lies on Goku.”

Vegeta sat straight up quickly. He hadn’t thought of that.

“You do tell some whoppers sometimes too. Are you sure Goku is your…” She trailed off after she looked over at Vegeta who was definitely having a meltdown.

“I am one hundred percent sure.”

“Well maybe they just appear on his back or something.”

He huffed at her and turned away on his side. That was all he could handle for now. She seemed to take pity on him and left it alone for now. 

  
  


Vegeta stared at his phone scowling. He kept pulling up Goku’s contact information and then closing it. He sighed. It had been weeks since his talk with Bulma. He opened it again and threw caution to the wind.

"Uh, hello." Goku answered after a few rings, sounding somewhat timid. 

"Kakarot!" Vegeta screamed into the phone trying to sound assertive and confident. "This weirdness has gone on long enough, come spar with me."

"Uh, I mean, I’m in the middle of something and I don’t know..." he trailed off when he heard Vegeta growl. 

Vegeta lifted his glove to see the words he just heard dance around his wrist. Busy his ass.

Vegeta was startled and snapped his glove back in place as Goku appeared suddenly next to him.

Vegeta recovered quickly, masking his surprise with a scowl as he pointedly hung up his phone. Goku sheepishly watched the call disconnect on his. 

Vegeta glared at him for a moment before he snapped at him. 

"Well, at least you’re here. Come on, let’s go." 

Vegeta, mustering all the dignity he had left, walked out of the room and Goku predictably followed him. 

They didn’t say anything as they walked through the halls of Capsule Corp, nor as they reached outside and simultaneously lifted into the air. Goku let Vegeta lead the way. Vegeta couldn’t help but notice the hurried stolen glances his way and he smiled to himself. The man wasn’t subtle.

Vegeta landed and watched in mild amusement as Goku flew past completely not paying attention. Vegeta crossed his arms and tapped his foot waiting impatiently. Eventually Goku whipped his head around searching for him. Eyes widening when he found him and back tracked to land near him. They both looked around at the spot Vegeta had chosen for their spar. A beautiful hillside with no trees or other objects abstracting his view for miles. 

A chuckle was the only warning Vegeta got before Goku used his technique to appear right behind him and gave him a playful shove. Vegeta, more surprised he had the gall than anything, whipped around and went right to it. Attempting a kick here, a punch there. Their spar much more playful than any of their other fights, resembling nothing of their initial fight when Vegeta came to earth. 

Vegeta had missed this. He had missed the other man. Being around him just made him… Whole. Vegeta realized with a jolt. 

He had no time to consider the full weight of that thought as Goku beamed at him and ascended to Super Saiyan. Vegeta followed suit immediately. The forces behind their hits became more and more powerful and they finally spared with real intensity. Neither lost all of their cheekiness however, It was by far the most interesting spar the two of them had ever had. 

Neither let up for hours, only when they noticed that sun was on its way down did they decide to throw in the towel. Goku sat on the top of the hill, sighing satisfactorily as he stared out at the sunset. Goku gasped and turned to look as Vegeta sat down next to him, close enough for their knees to almost be touching. Vegeta refused to look at him, not wanting to make a big deal about it. He was curious what the other man was thinking though.

Goku finally looked away, but he was sitting stiff as board and Vegeta wasn’t sure if he was breathing. Finally after a few minutes he took pity on him. 

"Kakarot." Vegeta broke the silence. 

Goku tilted his head to show he was listening, but wouldn’t meet Vegeta’s eyes. Seemingly all the sudden shy. Maybe it was his tone, it had come off softer than he meant it to.

"Why?" 

His question must have caught Goku off guard because he finally turned to look at him. They stared into the others eyes, each trying to find their own answers. After a minute Goku cleared his throat.

“Why what Vegeta?” He asked him in a husky voice.

"That thing you told me, why?" 

Vegeta could not hold eye contact any longer and looked at the ground suddenly interested in the grass. Goku seemed thoughtful. Taking a moment to answer. 

"Uh, okay. Are you sure you want to talk about this?" 

Vegeta nodded, but still did not look up. 

“If that’s what you want then I will be honest with you.”

Goku shifted and their knees touched. A bolt of electricity shot up Vegeta’s spine. Goku froze and tensed, obviously worried about Vegeta’s reaction, but he just knocked their knees together playfully. Vegeta was ready to be honest too. With Goku and himself. That seemed to be all the encouragement Goku needed.

“Vegeta, I have always respected you as a warrior from the moment I met you. When I asked Krillin to spare your life, I never expected to see you again. I was so disappointed, I had never had such an exciting battle before. But, then you were Namek, too. I was already excited about the idea of working with you. When Freiza killed you, and you opened up to me about your life, everything fell into place. I felt like I really understood you. Who you were and why and what kind of man you could be given the chance.” 

Vegeta stared, open mouthed at Goku. He didn’t expect his explanation to go back so far.

“I already cared so deeply about you. I wanted you to succeed, I wanted you to reach Super Saiyan on your own just like you wanted. When I died trying to save everyone from Cell I was really disappointed about not being able to be around you to watch you grow. And when we fused to fight Buu for the first time and I got to see your memories and see you so scared that I wouldn’t want to be your friend anymore, to see you so happy to find out that I genuinely cared about you. I don’t know, something shifted. Since then I noticed I thought about you more, wanted to be around you more. The more time we spent together the more I noticed how I felt about you was different.” 

Goku trailed off and started blushing. Vegeta couldn’t help but stare at his cheeks. 

“Uh, I hope that’s okay. I didn’t really expect to be telling you this stuff.” 

Goku giggled nervously. Vegeta placed his hand on Goku’s knee, encouragingly.

“Kakarot, it’s okay. I asked you a question and you answered me.” 

He gave Goku’s knee a squeeze but otherwise did not move. Goku let out a wheeze.

“What else Kakarot?”

“Well, after we fused as Vegito the second time I noticed something was off. The more time we spent together the more little things I began to notice. I always wanted to be around you. I always wanted to be touching you. Grabbing your shoulder, holding your hand when I used my Instant Transmission. I also found myself looking at you a lot. I would study your facial expressions, becoming engrossed in them, always wanting to know how you were feeling, and why. I started gravitating closer and closer to you, until I forgot what personal space was when you were involved.”

Vegeta huffed at that.

“I noticed.” He said dryly.

Goku chuckled. 

“Yeah sorry about that. But when I realized what was happening I panicked. I tried to ask around, but no one knew what I was talking about so it got weird.”

Vegeta snorted at that.

“What changed your mind Vegeta? I thought you were never going to talk to me again.” Goku said, letting his grief sink into his voice.

Now it was Vegeta’s turn to blush. Instead of answering right away He slowly slid off his gloves, methodically taking each one off. When he was finished with that he rolled up his sleeves. Goku watched on in silence, clearly curious but waiting for Vegeta to speak.

“Thank you for being honest with me, but I need you to lie to me.”

“What? Why?”

“Right now, tell me a bold faced lie.”

“My name is, uhh, not Son Goku.” He blurted out awkwardly.

Goku watched with open fascination as his little lie appeared on Vegeta’s arm before quickly fading away.

“How did you do that?” Goku asked, voice full of wonder.

“I thought you’d have something similar happen, but now I’m not so sure.” Vegeta sighed while pointing at Goku’s arm. “The sky is green, I’ve never been to Namek, and I wasn’t born a prince.”

They both watched as his lies manifested on Goku’s wrist before shooting quickly up his arm before disappearing.

“Vegeta what is happening?”

Vegeta just stared stunned.

Goku looked very thoughtful.

“I made a wish on the Dragon Balls when I was a boy.” Goku spoke slowly, as if trying to remember something he hadn’t thought of in a long time.

“I was such a strange kid with my tail and my strength. I used to have all these random words and phrases appear all over my body. Buzzing with intensity. They distracted me from fighting so I asked Shenron to get rid of them. He said he could but temporarily. Until I found my sou..”

Goku stopped talking suddenly.

Vegeta raised an eyebrow at him.

“Until I found my soulmate. Vegeta these started coming back after I told you I was in love with you.”

“That makes sense.” 

Vegeta waited for Goku to get it.

“So you… we…” 

He got it.

“Yes.”

“What does this mean? For us I mean? What about Bulma?”

“The Woman and I had a discussion about it. She helped me understand that I do rely on our friendship and apparently you didn’t appreciate my broken promise to you.”

Goku fussed with his hands. Vegeta smirked.

“So we talked about things. She pointed out that we spend a lot of time together and you were basically a third wheel in our marriage already because I was so obsessed with beating you.” 

They both smiled. 

“And with some dirty tricks she forced me to admit that I do feel differently about you. I wanted to see you today to see if you were still...interested in me that way.” 

Vegeta placed his bare hand on Goku’s knee.

“She also thinks we should explore these  _ feelings _ and see where we end up.” He said it like a dirty word.

“Wow, Vegeta, what are you saying?”

“I’m saying I accept your feelings and am suggesting we venture into some sort of relationship depending on what we both and our wives are comfortable with.” Vegeta all but hissed, clearly embarrassed in having to say it out loud.

Goku’s mouth opened into an  _ O _ shape. Vegeta chuckled. After a minute Goku moved to lay his head on Vegeta’s shoulder. They stayed like that for a while. Eventually Vegeta moved so their noggins were touching. Goku sighed and the sound was like music to Vegeta’s ears.

Vegeta pulled away and Goku looked over to him, silently asking him. Vegeta leaned forward slowly and closed his eyes as he pressed his lips to Goku’s gently. It was a sweet and innocent kiss. Goku was clumsy and awkward and Vegeta remembered for the first time that Goku had once told him he didn’t know what a kiss was.

He pulled away to see Goku with his eyes closed and face red as a tomato.

“Hey Kakarot?”

“Yes, Vegeta?”

“I hate you.”

They both looked down at Goku's wrist. In big bold dark letters the three words appeared. Goku’s eyes widened to comically large proportions. He swallowed before looking back up at Vegeta.

“I hate you, too.” He responded in a very deep and husky voice.

Vegeta closed his eyes and sighed as he felt the tingling sensation of the words appearing on him. 


End file.
